


I'm not jealous

by xalias



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Dialogue Heavy, Fluff, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Jealous Keith (Voltron), M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), hunk ships it, mild swearing, the team is only mentioned briefly, this turned into dialogue practice and im not sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-03 04:59:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12741474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xalias/pseuds/xalias
Summary: Lance hits it off with an alien during a party and Keith swears he isn't jealous..._________[ "I canso-. Hold on a second, are you, jealous?" Lance asked. Keith froze. If one bad thing had come out of his growing relationship with Lance, it was how Lance could now read him like an open book. Lance's smile widened into that teasing grin and Keith knew he was in trouble. "You are!""What? Are you insane? Ofher?Why would I be-? I am not, jealous. Lance. Are you-. Do you, hear yourself right now?" Keith stammered crossing hisarms over his chest, trying to suppress the growing warmth creeping its way up his neck."You are! You're jealous." Lance laughed shaking his head slightly, "It's because you know she's my type, huh?""Oh, and what's that?Out of your league?"Keith snapped, wiping the smile right off of Lance's face. ]





	I'm not jealous

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this came from @aceofspeight on tumblr. (thanks so much!)

* * *

Keith wasn't a fan of parties. This, he didn't think came as much of a surprise to anyone. He was the resident loner after all, at least that’s what Pidge said all those months ago, and nobody had disagreed at the time. He decided to roll with it, after a tough battle the last thing Keith wanted to do was mingle around anyway. So he took up post in the corner, watching over everyone and observing. After all, Zarkon could be back any second, somebody had to be prepared.

 Celebrations often happened after defeating the Galra, and this time had been no different; The inhabitants of planet Quatis had been quick to organize this party to show their thanks for saving their planet. They had opened up their city, lighting floral lanterns and bonfires to ignite the cool night air.

In a way, it had reminded Keith of Earth. The smell of the burning wood, the sound of chatter and laughter. For a minute he allowed himself to close his eyes and imagine that he was back at the shack, to imagine the familiarity of a home that wasn’t quick his, to a time before everything went to shit. He never let himself stay in these fantasies for long though. It was no help to anyone to wallow over what used to be. That part of his life was over, and there was no use dwelling on it.

“Please, brave warrior, accept the nectar of our ancestors.” One of the civilians greeted, holding out a chalice-like cup filled with a strange glowing liquid.

“Oh, uhm, thank you..?” Keith said awkwardly taking the cup. He hesitated, watching as the alien stared at him expectantly.

“Please, drink!” They prompted, with what Keith assumed was a smile on their tree-like features. Keith slowly brought the cup to his lips, taking a small sip. He schooled his features into what was less of a grimace at the sour taste and more of what he hoped could pass as a smile.

“Mm, yes, ah, thank you- for your hospitality,” Keith said. The alien bowed and then left Keith alone. Keith swiped at his tonguewith the back of his hand, trying to get rid of the bitter aftertaste.

Across the room, Lance seemed to be having no trouble at all, judging by his bright smile, wide eyes and cheerful laugh, Lance was having a great time. Keith often wondered how he did it. Lance seemed to get along with everyone they came into contact with, whereas Keith didn't even know where to begin. He supposed Lance was just personable, this came like second nature to him and he always made it look so easy. Keith stopped himself from grinding his teeth, only realizing he'd been doing it from the ache in his jaw, he turned away from where Lance was.

It's not that he wanted to be Lance. Keith had grown to be comfortable in his own skin long ago. No. It was that he wanted to be  _with_ Lance. To put it simply, Keith felt better, more comfortable with Lance at his side. He felt more at ease, more confident even. Keith couldn't exactly pinpoint when it had happened, but somewhere in the span of the last few months, something in their relationship had shifted. Their fights becoming more of a playful banter, their rivalry transforming into some force of partnership, and if Lance and Keith sometimes brushed fingertips in passing or starred at each other for a little too long, neither of them mentioned it. There was a sort of unspoken understanding  _not_  to mention it. So if after a training session, Keith walked a little closer to Lance than necessary, they both pretended not to notice. 

Keith caught himself staring again. He'd seen that face on Lance before, eyes half-lidded, smile quirked up,  _hell_ , Lance had given  _Keith_  that look plenty of times before. Usually late at night, during one of their long talks, when the weight of the universe just became a little too heavy and they needed somebody to help hold it up. Was it really so wrong that Keith wanted Lance to only look at him like that? As soon as the thought entered his brain, Keith shook it away, Lance was allowed to talk to other people. They were celebrating a win, he was  _expected_  to talk to the natives of the planet, but it still did nothing to calm the butterflies in his stomach every time he saw Lance smile, nothing to quiet the thoughts in his head when he heard that laughter ring out across the room... Keith actively turned his head around, needing a distraction, he made a beeline for the refreshments table to refill his glass.

 

"Dude, what's going on?" Hunk greeted, coming up beside him. Keith jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of his friend. He nearly spilled nectar all over his hand.

"Nothing. Just getting more of this... punch." Keith said unenthusiastically, as he refilled his chalice.

"Really? How are you drinking that stuff? It tastes like air freshener." Hunk said with a frown. Keith huffed a small laugh because that is  _exactly_  what it tasted like. He turned to say this to Hunk but was distracted by an outburst of laughter. Keith turned around and frowned. Of _course_ , it had come from the girl Lance was talking too. He watched as she playfully hit his shoulder and Lance immediately grabbed it wincing as if he was in pain.  

"You sure nothing's bothering you?" Hunk asked, tearing Keith’s focus away from them.

"Why would anything be wrong. This is a party, isn't it?" He said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"Well, it's just you been glaring all menacingly in Lance's direction for like a good fifteen minutes," Hunk pointed out, "What happened? Did you guys get in a fight or something?" 

"No," Keith said quickly. In fact, Keith couldn't remember the last time he and Lance had gotten into a real fight. Sure, they still argued from time to time, but it had lost most of the real heat behind it. This was something that had come with the shift, once they had stopped worrying about a petty rivalry it eliminated the tension that had been keeping them apart.

"Ooooh, it's  _that_  kind of glaring then." Hunk said with a laugh. 

"Uhm, what?"  

"You're jealous." Hunk said matter of factually. Keith felt his heart rate spike in his chest. 

"I'm-. I'm _really_  not _-_." He said shaking his head. Jealous? Of Lance? Of the girl Lance was talking to? Well-. No.  _No._ Keith wasn’t jealous, he had no reason to be jealous. It's not like he was dating Lance, though he would like to-. But that didn't mean he was jealous. Lance was his friend and he would never want to do anything that would ruin that. Besides, Keith liked their relationship how it was. He liked the shy looks, their careful touches here and there... And maybe Lance was giving that girl the same looks he had given Keith two days ago, but that didn't mean it meant the same thing.

"Yeah, sure, man. But I'll give you some advice, maybe try talking to him instead of just standing all brutishly in the corner." 

"Hunk, I have no idea what you're talking about," Keith said a little too quickly, sipping his drink an attempt to act casual, but when the taste hit the back of his throat, he choked, launching himself into a coughing fit.

"Right? I told you it was no good," Hunk laughed, patting Keith on the back, "Seriously though, I'm sure you'll figure it out, Lance has at least."

"What?!" 

"Just go talk to him," Hunk said calmly taking Keith's shoulders and steering him away from the punch bowl. 

"What do I even say?!" Keith exclaimed, digging his feet into the ground to resist against Hunk.

"I don't know, Keith. Something nice? I can't do all the work for you." Hunk said, shoving him forward. Keith stumbled a bit, turning back to shoot a glare at his friend.

If Hunk picked up on Keith’s annoyance, he didn’t show it. He was giving smiling, giving him an encouraging double thumbs up. Keith shot him a firm glare before turning around and walking towards Lance and the girl. 

 Lance was quick to notice Keith's arrival and his face immediately curved into a wide smile. Keith ignored the pang in his chest at the sight of it. Deep down, Keith knew his feelings for Lance were more than what he led on. It was something he had been forced to confront a month ago when Lance nearly died on a mission. Keith hadn’t ever been that scared before, to think that in something of a second everything he cared about could have been ripped right from his grasp-. It was as startling and it was disorienting. He knew then that he couldn't allow himself to ignore his feelings. So if he caught Lance's gaze across the room, he wouldn't allow himself to look away first, why he went out of his way to compliment him when Lance did something amazing on a mission. He never wanted to regret  _not_ saying something, because he had almost lost his chance to do so. 

"Keith! What's up?" Lance greeted, pulling Keith back to reality. 

"Uhm. Nothing. Just, coming over to- to hang." Keith said trying very hard not to phrase it like a question. 

"Awesome! This is Gylla, she was just telling me about the sunrises here," 

"Oh. Cool." Keith said tightly, trying to smile at her. She smiled back, though it looked forced.

"Yeah, they're really pretty. The way the sun hits the trees makes the light bounce around, it almost looks like everything is glowing!” She turned all her attention back to Lance. “Maybe we can sneak out to the terrace and watch it together."

Keith didn't miss how she stared up at Lance through her long eyelashes, or how she took a step closer, even though they were already standing very,  _very_ close and Keith had to actively remind himself that  _he was not jealous_ because he was seriously starting to doubt it. 

"Oh yeah?" Lance said quirking his brow, earning a giggle from Gylla. 

And then he gave up denying it because he was  _definitely_  jealous of her. If only because she was here flirting with Lance, and Lance was flirting back. Keith knew that this was a part of Lance's personality, knew that Lance was a people person. In a family as big as his, Keith figured Lance would take any attention that he was given.

Keith didn't even try to hold back the scoff that escaped from his lips. Lance and Gylla's eyes snapped to him in an instant and Keith began coughing in an attempt to cover it up, though he didn’t think it worked.

"Sorry, I just choked, on the punch." He said raising his cup a little, "It tastes like... air freshener."

"You don’t like it? It's a traditional drink here. Only served to the bravest of warriors. It's meant to bring years of peace and happiness to us and our allies." Gylla said with a deep frown, a crease set in her brow.  

"You put that much faith in a  _beverage?"_  Keith asked. In an instant, Lance let out a fit of tight laughter, clapping Keith tightly on the shoulder.

"Would you excuse us for a minute?" Lance said with a strained smile, as he dragged Keith away hastily. Once they were out of earshot, he whirled on Keith, "What the hell, man?" 

"What?" Keith asked. 

" _What?_  Are you kidding right now?  _Keith_. You can't just  _say_  that to people." 

"Technically, they're not people," Keith pointed out.

"That's not-. That doesn't-!" Lance groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, "What am I going to do with you?" Lance mumbled, mostly to himself as he blew out a breath and looked down at Keith. Keith narrowed his eyes at him. 

"Me? What about you?" Keith demanded. Lance raised a brow at him. "You can't go two minutes without flirting!" 

"I can _so_ -. Hold on a second, are you, jealous?" Lance asked. Keith froze. If one bad thing had come out of his growing relationship with Lance, it was how Lance could now read him like an open book. Lance's smile widened into that teasing grin and Keith knew he was in trouble. "You  _are!"_

"What? Are you insane? Of  _her?_  Why would I be-? I am  _not_ , jealous. Lance. Are you-. Do you, hear yourself right now?" Keith stammered crossing his arms over his chest, trying to suppress the growing warmth creeping its way up his neck.

"You are! You're jealous." Lance laughed shaking his head slightly, "It's because you know she's my type, huh?" 

"Oh, and what's that?  _Out of your league?"_  Keith snapped, wiping the smile right off of Lance's face. 

"Oh. Nice one, Keith, you  _got_  me. " Lance said sarcastically, placing his hands on his hips. "You can't be mad because Gylla thought I was heroic and strong and brave." Lance listed, counting off on his fingers. 

"Are those her words or yours?" Keith questioned, smirking slightly.

 "Oh, shut it. You're just saying that because you're  _jeeaalouuuss_." Lance said dragging out the word as he leaned in towards Keith.

"I am not," Keith said through his teeth, his jaw clenched tight, irritation creeping its way up his throat. 

"Are too." Lance retorted with a wave of his hand.

"Am  _not!"_

"Are  _too!"_

"Why would I be jealous of her? she's not even  _human!"_  Keith exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. 

"Neither are you!" Lance shot back. Keith sucked in a breath ready to fight back but then Lance's words hit him. He blinked. Once. Twice. 

"I'm-. What?" 

Lance's eyes were wide. His hands clamping over his mouth as if that would suck the words back in, leaving them unsaid. "I just mean, you're part Galra, so  _technically_  you're... part alien and she is also, well, she's full alien, but what I'm saying is you're half. Half human not... full." 

"Does that bother you?" Keith snapped. His heart hammering in his chest. Keith's mind went back to replay all the moments he and Lance had shared over the course of these past few months, wondering if he had read them painfully wrong.

"What? No! Of course not." Lance said sincerely, "I am one hundred percent okay with half of you being Galra. Doesn't bother me. If I'm being honest, your mullet bothers me more than you being Galra." 

Keith scoffed at him, shaking his head a little.  "Whatever, Lance." He turned, walking away. He needed to think, needed to process the words just exchanged. 

"Wait! Keith, no!" Lance called chasing after him. Keith didn’t wait up, he stalked away from the party, weaving between guests until he was on the outskirts, close enough to hear the buzz of celebration, but far enough that the warmth supplied by the fire was gone.

 

“Keith, wait!” Suddenly, Keith felt a hand on his shoulder, gently turning him around. Lance was standing in front of him, obviously distraught. Keith bit the insides of his cheeks, trying to ignore the shine in Lance's eyes. 

"I didn't mean that, okay? I'm sorry," Lance sighed, wiping his hands over his face. "Look, I just-. God. I always manage to screw things up, don't I?" Keith frowned, his heart jolting at Lance's words. Lance rubbed the back of his neck, not quite able to meet Keith's eyes. Deep down Keith knew that Lance hadn't meant to hurt him, knew he didn’t have a cruel bone in his body and that guilt was probably tearing him up inside.

"I'm sorry. I really  _really_  didn't mean that the way it sounded. I am so sorry, Keith." Lance continued. It looked like it physically pained Lance to meet his gaze. He opened his mouth to speak again, closed it and then tried again. "I guess just panic, and say dumb shit because I want you to like me," 

"You achieved the exact opposite of me liking you." Keith pointed out, not quite ready to let go of his anger, but  _god_  if Lance kept looking at him like that, it was going to disintegrate any second. Lance sighed, running his hand through his hair and Keith tried not to focus on how Lance’s bangs slowly fell forward onto his face again.

“I know, that was a really stupid thing to say, I didn’t think-which kind of makes it worse, doesn’t it?” Lance asked, sulking slightly, “I didn’t mean it in a negative way, it’s just- I was trying to put you on the same playing grounds as Gylla. You being part Galra doesn’t change how I feel about you.

"You just... you mean a lot to me, and I don't want to screw up all the progress we've made," Lance said. Keith was unable to tear his gaze away from the pink hue slowly creeping up onto Lance’s cheeks. His heart was humming in his chest, as he slowly processed what Lance was saying to him.

"Neither do I," Keith said, his voice hoarse.

"Good, because I really love where we're at now, and where we're heading," Lance said looking relieved. He smiled softly, and Keith felt his face burning. Suddenly, the eye contact was too much forcing Keith to look away. "Because you and me, we do make a pretty good team." 

Keith sighed, leaning against a tree, he looked back to Lance, pausing for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess we do." He said. Lance’s toothy grin made a reappearance as he moved up alongside Keith, giving him a playful shove. Keith let out a small laugh as he regained his balance. He glanced back over at Lance. They stood there like that for a minute, looking out to where the party hadn’t slowed. With the glow of the lanterns and the sound of laughter, it was impossible to tell that just hours before this had been a battleground.

Keith was startled by a graze against his hand, he glanced down and saw Lance’s hand lingering next to his. Looking back up, Keith hooked their pinkies together reveling in the warmth of Lance’s hands. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith could see Lance’s lips curving into a smile.

"You do to me too." Keith said after a while, "Mean a lot to me." he clarified glancing at Lance. He could feel his cheeks growing warmer, despite the cooler temperature. "I mean, I think it was always kind of obvious, but I never really thought about it until recently," he admitted, "It was, after... your injury and we almost lost you… and for those three days you were in the pod, I just couldn't stop thinking about what I would have done if you weren't going to wake up." 

"Hey," Lance interrupted, Keith turned, looking up him, "You really think you can get rid of me that easily?" He asked with a sly smile, Keith couldn't help the nervous laughter that bubbled up his throat. Lance nudged him with his shoulder, not moving away, leaving them pressed together.

"It's just all so surreal, isn't it?" Lance asked after a minute.

“What is?” Keith asked, looking over at Lance.

 "I mean, we're in  _space_. Defending the  _universe_. How's that for bad timing?" He asked laughing humorlessly. Keith frowned. He thought back to the day they’d found the blue lion, to their first battle together, to the first time Lance caught him crying, and to the many times they’d taken comfort in each other. Keith wasn’t sure what could have been had none of it ever happened, but despite everything going on, Keith kind of liked how things were turning out.

"Maybe it's not," Keith said, and Lance turned to look at him, their faces, close enough for Keith to feel Lance's breath. "Maybe this is the perfect timing." He said, swallowing the lump rising in his throat. He turned back to look at the party, seeing just a hint of an orange glow rising in the distance. "I mean, yeah, we're in the middle of a  _war_ , but-. and I don’t even know what I’m doing- I don’t think either of us do-. But I do know that whatever  _this_  is," He said, motioning between himself and Lance, "it's something I don't want to let go of. So, do you wanna figure it out with me?” Keith asked, his voice shaking.

Lance huffed out a sound that might have been a laugh, before hooking his arm around Keith’s shoulder, pulling Keith closer into his side, "Yeah,” Lance said, turning back to look at the rising sun over the horizon. “Yeah, I'd like that." Keith didn't miss the quiver in Lance’s voice. He leaned into Lance and they stayed like that, watching the sun poke through the clouds in a sea of orange and red, lighting the night sky. For just a moment, Keith allowed himself to think of Earth, to think of the bonfires that kept the desert night warm, the orange glow over the dust of the sand, the smell of the burning wood, only this time, Lance was right there next to him.

"You know," Lance said, breaking the silence, "I don't actually hate your mullet." Keith huffed, looking back at him.

"I know," and then he was leaning forward, eyes drifting closed as he felt his lips brush up against Lance's. He allowed himself to get sucked in, to get drunk off the touch, and the sweetness of the kiss. Time seemed to slow, and though Keith knew that a new day was beginning, he didn't quite want to let go. He wanted to stay in this moment where he could forget about their troubles forever despite how selfish it may be. Didn't they deserve this? To be happy? Wasn't he allowed to be selfish for once? 

Lance pulled back, resting his forehead against Keith's as he caught his breath.

"If I knew all I had to do to get you to kiss me was tell you I liked your hair, I would have done it a lot sooner," Lance said smugly. Keith opened his eyes, Lance was staring at him, eyes half-lidded, smile wide and Keith laughed, pulling himself closer to Lance. They stood there, arms wrapped around each other as they watched the trees come alive in the glow of the sun, and he knew that they would be okay. As long as they were together, they could make it through this. They were a small hint at happiness in the midst of all this chaos, and Keith wouldn't have had it any other way. 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> They are so in love wow :')
> 
> ~~~  
> thanks for reading & I hoped you enjoyed this<3 
> 
> (I wrote this at midnight so if you see any mistake please let me know!)


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